Exploring the Relationship between Transformational Leadership and Student Performance

The purpose of this research was to explore the relationships between transformational leadership, teaching process, learning process, and student performance. Student performance is important in the evaluation the education quality in higher education institutions, but there is little research to explore the role of transformational leadership on relationships among the teaching process, learning process and student performance in higher education institutions. To redress this imbalance a conceptual framework was developed to test the relationship between these variables. Our methodological approach utilized quantitative method and a cross-sectional study. We employed a structural equation model (SEM) to test our conceptual model using questionnaire data from a large technical university from Romania. As expected, we found that the relationship between transformational leadership and student performance is mediating by effect of teaching and learning processes. The results highlight that transformational leadership was positively related to teaching and learning processes, and that this variable was positively related to student performance. These findings require further investigation in future research on theories, and practices for academic leadership development. Finally, limitations and future research directions are discussed.